Trust Within Itself: Chapter 3: The First Universal Law of Equivalent Exchange
Anime/Manga: Fullmetal Alchemist
Pairing: Either Parental!RoyEd or Yaoi!RoyEd, depending on how you wish to view it
Warnings: Rated PG-13 for violence and language
Beta: I have no beta, therefore this is not beta'd. Nor am I looking for a beta, so please don;t ask.
Disclaimer: I do not own FMA. If I did, I would be super rich and I wouldn't be writing this stuff for free!
-
PREVIOUSLY ON "TRUST WITHIN ITSELF":
"Oh, he's lost a lot of blood and has a minor concussion. He should wake up by tomorrow afternoon. Come on; let's get this boy to your place."
"Alright."
Edward woke up to a warm wool blanket wrapped around his bare shirtless body. Something was certainly off here... rubbing his eyes, he's slowly opened them. Everything was foggy at first. Ed blinked a few times and squinted as his eyes began to focus. He seemed to be in a bedroom. The afterlife was pretty weird, huh? And that's when the headache hit him.
He grunted groggily in pain and brought his hands up to rub his temples.
"Ah, so Sleeping Beauty has finally woken up?"
Edward lifted his head towards the doorway to look at whoever had spoken. His eyes met midnight blue, sparkling with amusement. The man appeared to be in his late twenties and wore a pair red pajama pants and an open, matching red pajama shirt, slightly revealing his toned chest.
"Who are you? Where the hell am I? Why am I here? Am I still alive?" Ed figured that if the man wanted to kill him, he'd be dead by now, that is, if he wasn't already...
The man walked over to Ed's bedside and pulled up a chair. Sitting on it backwards, he smiled warmly at Edward.
"My name is Roy Mustang. You are in my guest room in my home and you are here because I brought you here after saving your life and getting your wounds treated. Which should answer your next question, yes, you are still alive."
Ed nodded slowly, taking it all in.
"Would you mind if I asked you some questions," Roy asked, his eyes sincere and caring. After studying the man's eyes for anything that will lead to trouble later, Edward nodded.
"Yes, that'd be fine, Mr. Mustang."
"Please, call me Roy."
"Okay. Roy."
"First of all, what's your name?"
Edward swallowed and hesitated before replying, "Edward. Edward El-" He caught himself and then lied, "Eldrinne. Edward Eldrinne." Roy looked at him skeptically. The boy had to be fibbing. No one takes that much time to think of their name, but he let it slide. Maybe the boy would tell him in time.
"Okay, Edward. You're about 12, right?"
Edward turned bright red and took a few deep breaths, trying to count back from ten to calm himself. But, he just couldn't.
"DON'T CALL ME SMALL! I'M NOT A SHRIMP OR A PIPSQUEAK OR A MINISCULE ATOM!" Roy eyed him with an amused smirk.
"I didn't call you any of that."
"Uh, sorry, I'm just, uh, a bit sensitive about my... height." Edward turned bright red and looked away in shame.
"So you're not 12, then, shorty?" Roy smirked. This was just too fun.
"NO! I'm 15, goddammit!"
"Really? Wow..." Roy was actually surprised. The boy seemed to be so young!
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, next question!"
"Okay, okay! Where do you live?"
"To be honest, I live on the streets with-" Ed paused in thought. "With no one. I usually pull all-nighters studying at libraries or if I can manage enough money, I'll rent a room or two at a motel. I've stayed around Central for a few years now, actually."
Roy nodded. Just as he expected, a vagabond. There were too many war orphans wandering around since Ishbal. It was only common.
"I see. Where are you originally from, then, Edward?"
"A little farm town in the east. It's called Risembool. My father left my family when we were really young so he could do research or something; I'm not too sure. And my mother... my mom.. she, um, she died..." Edward wasn't ready to reveal the rest of his history. That should be enough for his medical documents. He'd transmute some money later to make up for the medical costs that he probably owed the guy.
"I'm sorry," Roy cast his eyes downward. How depressing.
"Please, don't put any blame on yourself," Edward assured him as he tried to sit up.
Roy chuckled and pushed him back down, concluding his interrogation and said, "I insist that you stay here to recover at the least. And then we can talk."
"Thank you, sir. But if I'm too much trouble, I can definitely manage on my own."
"Well, rest now, Edward. Your clothes were mostly torn up or too bloody to be salvaged, but I pulled out a box of my old clothes. I left some money on the counter if you want to go out and buy something to wear instead, because I'm not sure if my clothes will fit you."
"Thank you, Roy-san. I'll try not to spend too much."
"Well, I have to go to work. I'll be back around six with dinner. There's enough food in the fridge for your lunch, I suppose."
"Oh, then can I do anything while you're gone? I don't know, tidy up or something? I just feel so indebted to you. It's only equivalent exchange."
Roy quirked a brow at the boy's usage of alchemic terms, but dismissed it quickly. He said he crashed in libraries often, so maybe he read a basic alchemy book or something.
"Fine, but you should take it easy. I suppose you can dust and wash the dishes if you'd like. But please don't struggle. We don't want any of your wounds opening up!"
"Yes, I understand. I just don't like being idle."
"Alright, you rest a bit while I go get changed for work."
Edward sighed and laid back into the soft bed. It had been a long time since he slept in a nice bed. When they could, he and Al would buy a night or two at a cheap motel, but they never had nice beds. The two's main source of money was alchemy. They would do simple alchemic fixes for people and the people would pay them. When they were desperate, they'd transmute some money. Yes, it was illegal, but how else was Ed supposed to pay for food the food he had to put in his baby brother's mouth? Or the clothes to keep on his baby brother's body?
"I'll be leaving now, Edward. Remember to take it easy!"
"Wait! Roy-san, is that a military uniform?" Edward panicked. Government? This wasn't good. He'd find out sooner or later and Ed would be sent to jail!
"Yeah, I'm a colonel. To be honest, I hate the current government and I hope to become Fuhrer one day so I can change it."
Ed sighed with relief. He was safe after all. That's when the twinkle of silver from Roy's pocket caught Edward's eye.
"Is that a state alchemist watch?"
"Yes, Edward, it is. I'm the Flame Alchemist."
"The Flame? Really! Oh my god, I finally get to meet the Flame Alchemist! I read about you in some alchemy books. Flame alchemy... Wow..." Edward stared at the man with true amazement. THE Flame Alchemist saved his life! Wait until Al heard! Wait. Al...
"Really? I didn't know I was such a celebrity! Well, I'm off to work then!"
"Okay, see you later then."
"Goodbye."
-
Edward stood up wobbly at first. He was determined to do something for this man, however. He thought back to the one of the first lines he'd ever read about alchemy. Human kind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return. To obtain, something of equal value must be lost. That is alchemy's first law of equivalent exchange."
He and Alphonse had lived by that rule sincerely and honestly. Although, their lives were focused on a single goal: finding their father. Apparently, back in the day, their father was a highly intelligent alchemic research. He was a state alchemist researcher. He made many discoveries and modern alchemy techniques. As much as Edward loathed him, he was the key to success. If they could find Van Hoenheim of Light, then they should become the greatest alchemists in history. Together, they could easily surpass their father.
Edward smiled as he began to walk regularly again. First thing first, transmute some clothes. Edward hobbled down the hallway to find that box of clothes Roy had talked about. Finding it, he pulled out a red turtleneck sweater, a (very big) leather jacket, a black scarf, and some large boots. Sighing, he piled everything and clapped his hands, slamming them into the clothes pile. After a second, the pile had turned into a neat pile of new clothes. The first was a red tee-shirt with a black flamel printed on the front. The second was a pair of leather pants. The last were two black leather boots, shrunk to fit Edward. Smiling at his handiwork, Edward got dressed. The tee shirt was snug and fitted, showing off his muscle. The pants were a little tight, but hey, he made them from a jacket, remember? The boots were just right, just like his old ones. Yes, this would do for now. He would just transmute his old clothes from some cloth later. He always stashed some cloth for transmuting at various libraries around Central.
Getting down to business, Edward made his way to the kitchen to wash the dishes. He actually enjoyed it. It relaxed him.
-
Roy daydreamed out the window in his office. God, that boy wouldn't leave his head! He kept worrying about him and the worst case scenario. Many times, Riza would pop in and shoot a bullet at his feet to get his mind back on things.
But Riza was on lunch break, she wasn't here now. He could space out all he wanted. Think about anything and everything.
That boy... That boy, Edward... he was just so strange... but in a good way. Roy felt the need to protect and comfort that teenager, a feeling he had never had for anyone before. His eyes full of pain and determination. His stamina, his resistance, his will to survive. That boy was amazing.
He had spent most of his time thinking about the boy's answers to his questions. His name was Edward, he was certain, as the boy didn't have to think about that, but his family name couldn't be Eldrinne. He had to stop and think of something. From the point of stopping, it sounded like his name started with "El." Hmm, strange. The kid just about fit the description of the elder of those Elric Brothers. They were said to be the offspring of Van Hoenheim of Light, history's greatest alchemist, and their mother was said to be murdered by burglars, but those were just rumors.
I was quite amusing to tease that boy on his height. Roy hadn't the slightest idea why, but it was just so fun! His reactions were hilarious! He'd have to keep that in mind for later...
Suddenly, he heard a shot ring out and felt a bullet land between his feet. He snapped his head up and pulled on a glove, but then realized it was only Riza. He sighed and picked up his pen. Time to get back to work...
-
Edward had finished dusting and cleaning the dishes and the kitchen and cleaning out the fridge and taking out the trash and a hell of a lot of other stuff, so he decided that he could rest for the rest of the day. Taking a bag of chips with him, he wandered around Roy's house until he found a certain room in particular. Yes. The library.
Carefully, he went searching for Roy's flame alchemy books. An alchemist had to be well rounded, ne? Finding a few old and dusty books, Edward got to work with trying to decode the books. Some were written in a code about guns. Which was hard for poor Edward, as he barely knew the difference between a pistol and a shotgun.
Another of the books was coded as a date book. It was filled with love stories with many different women. That's why Ed knew that it couldn't REALLY be a diary of all of Mustang's dates. It had to be another alchemy book.
After finding some paper and a pen, Edward set to work, spreading himself out on the library's floor. If he had to recover first before setting out to find Alphonse, he might as well be productive in the meanwhile.
-
It was late. Almost nine o'clock and Edward searched the kitchen for food for the hundredth time that evening. Where was Roy with dinner? He was starving! And frankly, he didn't know where the hell he was in town, therefore, he didn't know of anywhere to eat around here. Maybe Roy died and he was going to starve to death... Dammit! Where the fuck was the food!
Edward plopped into a chair at the kitchen table and grumbled something about food. He threw his head back and groaned in frustration.
"Hello?" The front door was opened and footsteps clacked into the kitchen.
"Roy-san!" Edward jumped up and smiled, eyeing the bag that Roy had in his hand.
"Hello, Edward! Wow, this place is the cleanest it's ever been! I'm truly amazed," Roy praised the boy, taking a look around. "You really didn't need to, you know."
"It's the least I can do. Equivalent exchange," Edward replied. "Food?"
Roy chuckled the poor kid was a teenaged boy. He probably ate non-stop.
"Yes, Ed, I brought back some burgers. Eat up and then go to bed. You'll recover faster, and besides, it's been a long day."
"Speaking of long days, what took you so long?"
"Ah, I had a hell of a lot of paperwork to do. My first lieutenant is a real pain in the ass when it come to paperwork."
"Oh, I see."
"Nice clothes, kid. Where'd you get them? All the money's still here?"
"Oh, um..." Edward thought. How could he be so stupid? "I, uh, ran to one of libraries where I hide, uh, my stuff, and uh, got it." Ed tried so desperately to lie convincingly, but Roy saw right through it. He didn't ask though. The boy had to have reasons for not sharing.
"Oh, okay, now eat!"
"You don't have to tell me twice!" Edward smiled and bit into his burger.
To be continued...